Second hand vinyl - are prices for classic rock going up, down or flatlining?

I went in one used shop and the kid at the register was pricing records himself by looking on discogs.That can`t be the most reliable method I hope.If it`s a record I really want I`ll consider paying.Way back, I bought a M- Megaforce Metallica 1st pressing in the shrink for $60 and was happy.Then again a lot of my favorites were found like ten bucks or under,few and far between in the most unlikely places by pure coincidence.That`s what I enjoyed the most.

 

I'm simply saying that they were. what an "art rock" band that didn't have mass appeal. They were of course very significant and influential. I knew I wasn't expressing myself very well when I posted it.

 

Could it be a way to launder money? Set high prices and sell to accomplice buyers over an over again?

 

The thing about discogs is that they are selling world wide. But a brick and mortar is selling to just the surrounding area. An album that sells for $15 on discog might only have a few thousand people interested in it at that price, but it gets sold because one of those people pulls the trigger. Set that same record out in Raleigh or El Paso and none of those buyers might be within 500 miles of that city, much less walk into that particular shop. Price it at $5 and someone might walk in and buy it.

 

I just paid $30 Url: Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True Shared from the Discogs App

I'm waiting for it to arrive so I'm still uncertain if it's worth it.
My main problem is that I'm not sure exactly which pressing I should've gotten. This isn't the very first, but it is a first year UK. This one has a higher rating, but with only four votes. I just hope it's in true nm as described. There's no way it can sound worse than my U.S original, right?

 

Back into it in the 90s? I was just getting out of it in the 90s.

 

You were right with the last bit.
It's a big, big world you work out the clueless percentage.

 

Sure and sell disguised contraband.

 

My experience with shopping for records in the U.K. since 2016 is that prices are going up, for sure.

Nowadays I am lucky to get anything I really want for under £8. And most shops I go into use Discogs as a price guide, charging anything from Median (if they’re clever) all the way up to a few pounds more than Maximum.

I had a real rant at a shop owner in Brighton the other day when I’d pulled out a load of unpriced stock from his stockpile under the shelves- nothing fancy at all, nice solid copies of big-selling albums (Genesis, ELO, Tangerine Dream) - and he priced them up for me whilst I carried on browsing.

He basically charged me somewhere between Median and Maximum for everything , which was largely ok , except one.

A standard first pressing copy of Genesis “Wind and Wuthering” with textured sleeve. Really nice copy. Seen many similar ones over the years for £8-12, but this one was pristine.

£50, he wanted. “Because it’s in the original textured sleeve!” So were all the other copies I’d seen, I pointed out. But he wouldn’t budge. Looked it up on Discogs and for some reason a copy has sold for nearly £90 at some point (HAS to be autographed, right?) so that skews the numbers and messes up his pricing method.

he was not having any of it, though, so I left it, told him it was a £10 record at best, and then went around the corner to another place where they had two copies for £8 each.

 

Really? Of course you should go to places of business and attempt to Strike a deal, especially if you’ve built up a relationship with the proprietor.

If you see two lps at £17 each and offer £30 for the two, for example, more often than not they’d be happy to make a sale.

I’m a regular customer at a few local outlets and they’re always happy to see me.

 

I think generally prices are on the increase but there are still bargains to be had, you’ve just got to put in the work.

I will never knowingly walk past a box of used records.

I find that when I’m after a specific record I’ll have to pay a premium, it’s the unexpected finds that tend to be bargains.

 

I'm still finding some great deals but they have become far less frequent.

Out of the seven places i shop frequently 4 have good used sections at mostly reasonable prices. Though rarities have climbed considerably. Recently these items seem to quite often surpasse discogs medium prices. Which means significantly higher prices these days, for the records im interested in. Quite frustrating!

However the other three places, which have tons of overpriced crap, are usually where i find the best deals. It seems their lazy pricing allows for the overlooking of uncommon or rare pressings. And since most of the stock in these three locations suck, the experienced customers mostly avoids them. Sea of overpiced dreck. This means real good stuff quite often sits ignored.

For instance....

This is a french island first press in ex\ex condition i got for 15$. But it was surround by thousands of worthless crap priced in the 20$ range. In the other four good stores i frequent this would have been a 60$ or more purchase.

Strange that my patronage is slowly shifting to the crappier stores. All due to the well stocked stores overpricing and the crap stores mispricing! Dont get me wrong, theres been very little worth buying in these places. But when something does show up, its worth it.

Da prices round these here parts be goin up kids.

 

Which shop was that? Sounds like might be W** F***** (trying to not shame anyone here!) as I know they carry a load of stock underneath the display racks - not been in for a while though. I need to do a decent full day in Brighton shops again soon, my favourite shop (Monkey Music) should have had enough time for a decent stick turnaround since I was last in there.

As an aside - I've had a couple of decent days in Eastbourne shops over the last couple of years by way of a change.

 

That’s right. It was a buyer’s market. You’re not the only one who was unloading vinyl. I’m especially referring to the late 90’s when I first started contemplating a high end turntable.

 

If that's the one I think it is, when I went in there they basically sold everything at £20. I did treat myself because it was my birthday, but it does show that the baseline has gone up and I've basically stopped buying vinyl except on special occasions now.

 

I find that the price of true "classic rock" albums continues to go up and up because most of the people buying those albums don't know any better. Personally, a lot of things and artists I have seen listed here are not really "classic rock" (I hate the term classic rock, but that rant is for another thread). "Classic Rock" is nothing but a radio format, and artists from multiple genres get lumped together in it. I find artists like ELO have seen a big spike in prices due to Guardians of the Galaxy, and Queen albums seem to be going up every year due to their popularity with the younger generation, and with the release of the recent film. I only have like 1 or 2 Queen records because I refuse to pay the prices people want for them.

The record stores in my city are great, but I do find most bands that fit in the "classic rock" category are a bit overpriced, and when I am at a record fair I am generally looking for something more exciting than a Boston or ELO record. Plenty of others are looking for those, and I would rather look for something a bit more exciting and in my wheelhouse.

Beatles records continue to go up in price, but I am a sucker and will continue to buy what I can... luckily I have most the US releases at this point, so I am mostly looking for some of the extra stuff.

 

But enough do that his implication of "nobody actually likes that crap" is ludicrous.

 

You're responding to a different poster now, and you've overreacted to both of them! There were no negative implications in either of the posts you've responded to.

 

In your part of the world sure.

 

That's always a good practice, though.

There's a store near me that specializes in punk and metal that I shop in regularly despite already owning most of the punk records I need and never having much interest in metal. But they do carry other genres and because of that focus, they don't really know what they have. So I'm always finding good R&B, jazz and 60s rock records there for cheap because they just want them out of the store.

Similarly, the choicest finds in the Newbury Comics remainder bins will always be found in the suburban mall stores, because no one shopping for records in the Natick Mall is looking for a copy of This Heat's Made Available.

 

Can only imagine prices going down if interest in vinyl was, the opposite is the case, in Ireland at least, people going crazy for it.

 

At yard sales, antique stores, and flea mkts. yes, prices are higher. The most classic line I hear (and mostly from older people 60+)...they say vinyl is coming back. I cringe when I hear that. Could just be a local hillbilly thing and who the heck are they?

Most used LP's I used to see for $1 and under are now $2-3....more at the antiques where they really try and gouge you. There's one antique store in my area with a large selection of vinyl 5%-10% is actually good, the rest is is just common. They are very well taken care of and displayed most in plastic outer covers and priced with stickers but they've all been graded at nr. mint price guide. For instance, Julie London LP's. He has a number of them in VG+ condition with $40 tags, early or later pressings...doesn't matter. I bought all of mine in OG nicer condition for $1-3. I like Julie just fine but $40 is out of the question. Once in awhile he'll feature a genre in a $1 box...he had Contemporary Christian,80's mostly last time I was in. But, that's just stuff that doesn't sell. I get questioned about this place all the time from out of town record buyers. They'll say...hey, I was in your area last week and there's this nice old antique location but what's up with the guy who has thousands of LP's at book price?

 

I think this shows what I said up thread, certain bands' vinyl is desired and valuable: Sabbath, Zep, Floyd, Thin Lizzy, Bunnymen, Etc., whilst others are not desired: Tull, Who, Foghat, Kansas, Krautrock, etc., It's a very specific appreciation that careless sellers are missing, and savvy are not.

 

That said, at the Raleigh record store I frequent most often, they always check Discogs when pricing new arrivals. I assume (since they're not idiots) that they also take into account how popular a particular artist or album is for their typical customers, but I would imagine that Discogs gives them a ballpark figure to start with. It would also tell them if they have an oddball pressing or obscure album that has recently become particularly desirable for some reason.

 

So I should now be able to find a great cheap mono Who Sell Out?